Amid the chaos of the Israeli operation’s first night and early the next morning, the Palestine Red Crescent Society dispatched two ambulances to the scene of a strike in Rafah’s al-Hashashin area. The dispatchers soon lost contact with one of the ambulances, according to PRCS spokeswoman Nebal Farsakh. Three more ambulances were dispatched, she said, and the PRCS ultimately lost contact with them, too.

For days, the crew was missing, along with a team from Gaza’s Civil Defense and a staffer with the United Nations. But on Sunday, the PRCS, the Civil Defense force and the U.N. all said they recovered their colleagues’ bodies in a mass grave in Rafah, including eight paramedics, six Civil Defense workers and one U.N. staff member.

The PRCS called it a “massacre.”

“They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives,” Jonathan Whittall, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Gaza and the West Bank, wrote on X.

In a statement, the IDF said its forces opened fire at vehicles after they “advanced suspiciously toward the troops … eliminating a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.” The IDF said an initial investigation found that “some” of them had been ambulances and fire trucks. It did not provide evidence of the claim that there were militants in the convoy and did not respond when asked why the first responders were buried in a mass grave.

15 first responders killed in Rafah, U.N. says, as IDF orders mass evacuation. Aid agencies say the workers were killed and buried in a mass grave in Rafah, in southern Gaza. Residents described being shot at along the evacuation route. By Miriam Berger, Hajar Harb and Heba Farouk Mahfouz, The Washington Post, March 31, 2025

Rescue teams in #Gaza found the bodies of 8 emergency responders from @PalestineRedCrescent, 6 from Civil Defense and 1 from @UnitedNations.

“They were here to save lives. Instead, they ended up in a mass grave,” says our colleague Jonathan Whittall, on the ground supporting the operation.

Their emergency vehicles – clearly marked as ambulances, a fire truck and a UN car – were hit by Israeli forces and dumped under the sand.

Attacks against emergency responders and aid workers are unconscionable. These brutal, abhorrent acts demand accountability.

From the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

IFRC condemns the killing of eight Palestine Red Crescent medics in Gaza

Geneva, 30 March 2025: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is outraged at the deaths of eight medics from Palestine Red Crescent Society, killed on duty in Gaza. 

An emergency medical team of nine disappeared along with their ambulances when they came under heavy fire in Al-Hashashin on 23 March. After seven days of silence and having access denied to the area of Rafah where they were last seen, the bodies of ambulance officers Mostafa Khufaga, Saleh Muamer and Ezzedine Shaath and first responder volunteers Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed Al-Heila, Ashraf Abu Labda, Raed Al Sharif and Rifatt Radwan were retrieved today (30 March). Ambulance officer Assad Al-Nassasra is still missing. 

IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said: “I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians. They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked. They should have returned to their families; they did not.” 

“Even in the most complex conflict zones, there are rules. These rules of International Humanitarian Law could not be clearer – civilians must be protected; humanitarians must be protected. Health services must be protected.     

“Our network is in mourning, but this is not enough. Instead of another call on all parties to protect and respect humanitarians and civilians, I pose a question: ‘When will this stop? All parties must stop the killing, and all humanitarians must be protected.’” 

This devastating incident represents the single most deadly attack on Red Cross Red Crescent workers anywhere in the world since 2017. 

Chapagain added: “The number of Palestine Red Crescent volunteers and staff killed since the start of this conflict is now 30. We stand with Palestine Red Crescent and the loved ones of those killed on this darkest of days.” 

For more information or to request an interview, please contact: media@ifrc.org 

https://www.ifrc.org/press-release/ifrc-condemns-killing-eight-palestine-red-crescent-medics-gaza